However Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard confirmed that the alert was a false alarm and that the island was safe. Additionally Hawaii's Emergency Management Agency confirmed that there was no threat and its plans to investigate further.

Furthermore, it took officials 30 minutes to rectify the alert, the US Pacific Command said.

With tensions rising between the United States and North Korea, the alert alarmed many of the residents with them turning to Twitter to share with others.

Governor David Ige also added: "This should not have happened. We are investigating the sequence of events that occurred. An error was made in emergency management which allowed this false alarm to be sent. It was a procedure that occurs at the change of shift where they go through to make sure that the system is working and an employee pushed the wrong button."

The Emergency Alert System aims to inform residents on emergencies, such as AMBER alerts.